Category Archives: Itinerary

Europe, Itinerary, Leslie's Letters, Leslie's Posts

Travels after Sudan….Where are RigneysKandu?

October 1, 2018 admin 4 Comments

After Sudan, we were on a whirlwind tour of Egypt, Israel, and Europe. Not much has been posted on the blog site since then. The three of us – myself, Eric and Bryce – plan to rectify that, posting articles recounting more detail than revealed in our postings on Facebook about the many extraordinary adventures of the last 5 months. BTW – if you don’t know, Kandu is down to 3 as Trent returned to California to attend high school. He is living with Uncle Nick Rigney in Calabasas.

August 29, 2018

Dear Sara and family,

I have been thinking of you since we were in Spain wishing I had become more fluent in Spanish like you. Unfortunately, we didn’t spend any time in Spain outside Barcelona, darn it! Just had 90 days to visit the Schengen countries (The Schengen agreement among most of the European Union countries grants visitors a 90 day tourist visa…if not European, then you only qualify for a 90 day visitor’s visa out of 180…3 months within a 6-month period. Turkey, Croatia, Cyprus, England, Gibraltar are not part of Schengen.) It’s just as well, because our bank book is quite depleted. It’s been very expensive traveling and docking the boat in Europe west of Greece. We sailed past the lower boot of Italy bee-lining it to Pompeii – one of my bucket list sights.

RigneysKandu floating in Dead Sea of Israel

Santorini, Greece

Acropolis, Athens

Pompeiians asphyxiated

Walking the boardwalk of Ancient Pompeii

Eric and I had never been to Rome or Venice. Having the boys with us, it was a must to make efforts to hit the bigger sites. Maybe another day, we’ll get a chance to explore more of Italy as I really fell in love with that country, full of ancient wealth and history.

Florence’s Duomo: carved marble exterior

Roman Colliseum

Michaelangelo’s David

Gondola ride in Venice

Actually Paris this time for us was not as mesmerizing as it has usually been in previous visits and stays. Perhaps it’s because we were generously put up by a friend in the suburbs of Paris and it took almost 90 minutes to get into the city, making early morning and late night strolls a little more challenging. Oh well. Not to mention the hoards and hoards of summer tourists swarming the big sites, and the heat. I don’t remember previously visiting Paris in the summer.

Bryce Rigney at Le Louvre

RigneysKandu Men in Paris

I haven’t had a chance to write on our blog much since making Egypt. Now that we have a bit of time to breath having exited out of the Schengen territories, we can enact repairs on the boat and record more details of our explorations.

In Bruge, Belgium with Ron and Rosie Dennis and Sian, Lara and Elena Demande.

Thierry and Clara Robert, Ron and Rosie and RigneysKandu touring around Huy, Belgium.

Most recently, we had a wonderful 6 weeks with my parents. Via extended invitations from our dear Belgium and French friends, we were able to introduce the boys and my folks to European living in many forms and to visit extraordinary sights and places like the picturesque & unforgettably charming wine villages along the Rhine in the Alsatian province. Eric and I had been to Alsace a couple times before, visiting with friends, but we had never explored the region: Colmar, Strasbourg, nor the wine trail villages. It’s no wonder why this region bordering Germany has been under contention for 100’s of years between France and Germany…it’s rich in valuable resources: hard working “Protestant type work-ethic” people and rich land for agriculture. The Strasbourg Cathedral housed the most incredible astronomical working clock we’d ever seen.

Baden Baden, Germany ancient fortress

Alsatian ladies dress in traditional costumes

Strasbourg Cathedral Astrological Clock

Alsatian style building, Strasbourg

Together, we also had time to visit some bordering areas/towns of Alsace including Baden Baden on the frontier of Germany – extremely wealthy boasting a lovely old fort that we hiked during the rain, and Luxembourg – which is clean clean clean, with a picturesque old town, fort, huge city walls and gorgeous Catholic churches. Of course, all through Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Belgium, France, Monaco and Barcelona, we visited churches, Basilicas, and Cathedrals ad nauseum. I loved it all….the boys were definitely done with the typical city offerings except the most spectacular ones such as St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, The Duomo in Florence, Versaille in France, and The Sagrada Familia by Gaudi in Barcelona. In Chartres Cathedral, France, the inside has recently been painted white to enhance the otherwise dire interior, but most specially the organist played for about 20 minutes, which for me, was magical.

Sagrada Familia Exterior, Barcelona

Sagrada Familia Interior, Barcelona

We’ve enjoyed so many other incredible country spectaculars: art museums, Napoleon history, war memorials and museums about WWI and WWII, plus many ancient sites, valuable and palatable history lessons for us all.

Ron n Rosie climbing Waterloo lookout, Belgium

WWII Memorial for US soldiers, Bastogne Belgium

Truly truly spectacular traveling which I hope to write about more fully on our blog now that we are moving at a more leisurely pace.

We and Kandu are now in Gibraltar harbored in Queensway Quay Marina. Trent, our youngest at 14 returned to California from Barcelona to live with Uncle Nick and started school August 23rd in Calabasas. Happily, he made the volleyball team. He is thrilled to be back home and excited to get academically serious. He’s extremely motivated. Bryce (16) flew solo to London last Friday night, visiting a good friend that he met in Athens.

Gibraltar – The ROCK!

Queensway Quai Gibraltar

Queensway Quay Marina, Gibraltar

Eric Rigney walking over Gibraltar Airport landing strip

Bryce is staying the 6 days with a dear friend of ours who is working on the next Spiderman movie currently filming in London. Bryce is exploring the city historical sites, skateboarding along the way.

Once Bryce returns, we’ll finish the remaining maintenance and repairs and sail off to Morocco, a two day sail, leaving Sept 3 to Mohammedia to visit Casablanca, Morocco. Then we’ll sail further south to Agadir to work on the boat a bit more and hopefully find some good surf for Bryce after almost a year of circumstantial abstinence. We plan to depart Agadir on Oct 1st for a two day sail to the Canary Islands (7-day stop, Columbus’s last before setting off to our New World), the Cape Verde Islands to restock (8-day sail), find a bit more surfing for Bryce – and then when the weather is good sometime around October 31st we plan to take off to sail the 18 days across the Atlantic .

After that – things are still undecided. If all goes well we’ll head straight to French Guiana, then Surinam, Guyana and north to visit a couple of the French Caribbean Islands, then west to the A, B, C’s of Dutch Antilles and Columbia to get ready to transit the Panama Canal around my birthday in February 2019. In the Eastern Pacific, we make our way north through Costa Rica and Mexico, skipping the less secure countries in between. It’s reported that there are pirates along the Central American coastline from Nicaragua through to Guatemala. Our plan is to return to Ventura end of May, early June 2019. Our McCool house has re-rented under a two-year lease. We are not beholden to any specific place to live in Southern California until we both land employment.

We’re getting close to the bottom of our cruising funds. From here on out, we’ve gotta be careful. Hopefully we won’t have big expenditures with the boat. We’ve already replaced so much!!!

Sending you big virtual hugs my dear girlfriend!
Leslie

Eric's Posts, Indonesia, Itinerary, Log Notes

Delorme LogNotes by Eric, Kumai Kalimantan Sept 2017

February 8, 2018 admin 1 Comment

Sept 23 2017 – Kalimantan (Borneo) & upcoming plans:

Travel up & anchor in a river next to Kumai town.
Tour a traditional Dayak village with Sail Indonesia Rally 2017 and tour Kumai all organized by the local rally committee.
Learn about orangutan conservation @ Camp Leakey
Find & try bird’s nest soup
Reserve a Klotok river boat, guide, etc for a 3 days cruise to take us to Tanjung Puting Nat’l Park w/wildlife stops and onboard meals along the way, observing from & sleeping on the elevated deck.
Find a “boat boy” to watch over Kandu, living in the cockpit while she remains locked up; a common Kumai practice
Prepare to celebrate Trent’s 14th Bday with some “forest people/orangutans.”
Head off for exotic Belitung Island where Nick will join us.

That’s what’s planned for next week starting 9/25. As always, twice as much will occur over what is planned. There could be a welcoming dinner with trad’l dancing, a museum or temple or two, geological points of interest, food items, etc.

Sailing at night, we must pay close attention for little red & blue flashing LED lights affixed to wooden scaffolding fish attracting devices. Also, few Indonesian boats have AIS, even the larger fishing boats, ferry, tugs, & cargo vessels, which by int’l maritime law they are required to. Makes for a very attentive watch. FAD’s are invisible to RADAR and can cause great damage to a sailboat, esp the prop & rudder. Also have to be on look out for the occasional large ocean obstacle – in this case a random buoy.

Random open ocean buoy in Indonesian waters.

Sept 24, 2017 – Celebrated Bryce’s 16th bday yesterday with chocolate brownies instead of cake! He loved the specially wrapped gifts of the items he’d picked out in Yogyakarta!

Arrived Kumai to unexpected gift. M/Y (Motor Yacht) Restless M owned by Claire and Errol White, longstanding friends of Eric was anchored in the river waiting for us. We anchored up to their huge yacht, enjoyed dinner together while BnT entertained us boat jumping and swimming in the muddy river water.

Sept 27 2017 – After reading about and hearing the sounds coming from swiftlet bird’s nest buildings, our imagination was peaked. The bird’s nest are highly sought after in China and they sell for large amounts of money per kilo. We bought 2 bird nests after 2-day tour of S. Central Kalimantan (Borneo).

Black swiftlet in nest

More bird nest infos

Edible swiftlet bird’s nests.

We were introduced to local tribes, sultans, & culture, including playing with blow darts and rice wine. During tour, took narrow 4-person river boat tours up a large stream to visit a local market place. It was like we were sent back in time.

Entrance Guardian

Dart games using bamboo

Rice wine served in bamboo

Sticky rice cooked in bamboo

Dayak tribe in costume

Dayak drummer

Dayak dancing

Leslie w/ Dayak woman

Trent & Dayak Guardian

Older Indonesian Man

Palm oil pod

Belitung river

BnT & Rainer on riverboat

Riverboat passengers

Open market egg carrier

Open mkt vegetables

Open mkt chicken

Open mkt fruits

Then orangutan conservatory lunch. A Jr. High School visit had special local music and dance. After the show, our boys were signing autographs like rock stars, girls screaming like at Beatles concerts. Leslie was asked to sing center stage to introduce them to opera. Then we headed off to the Kumai Tourist Center where we enjoyed more dance and music. They truly spoiled us!

Orangutan conservancy

Yawning orangutan

Incredible jungle lunch

Jr High Welcoming Committee

Junior high school presentation

Jr High Dancer

Jr High Band

Trent trying stilts

Scouts in Borneo!

Jr High Teachers

Jr High students

Meet n greet

BnT Superstars?

The second day of the Kumai rally tours brought us to a fancy Indonesian outdoor buffet held on Dayak communal grounds. The performers entertained us on a stage set-up under their Dayak house. They were beautifully trained middle school dancers and musicians. We felt thoroughly spoiled and honored. After lunch we were off to visit the local sultan and his family. The eldest daughter and wife were dressed in the most beautiful yellow gowns. She took a liking to Leslie and walked with her arm in arm around her grounds to Leslie’s absolute delight. They couldn’t talk to one another except in facial & body language yet the overall sentiment was equal admiration. It was a GREAT 2 days.

Kumai student tour guides and dancers.

Kumai middle school dancers.

Kumai middle school

Hornbill hat.

Starting tomorrow we will live on local river boat cruise for 3 days w/friends on all-inclusive excursion into Nat’l wildlife jungle park to glimpse orangutans in the wild, probiscus monkeys, macaque monkeys, birds, etc. We’ll be 8 to a river boat, communal room sleeping. They have a cook & r providing the food plus a guide. Leslie is happy – No cooking & cleaning!!

Some work to do on Kandu when we get back. Main Sail furler is turning roughly & we must clean port side fuel tank.

Easter Island, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Darwin, Eric's Posts, Experiential, Itinerary, Leslie's Posts, Log Notes

Daily Log: Vanuatu Notes

August 17, 2017 admin 2 Comments

6-13-2017 18h00 – Leslie. Off to Port Resolution, East Tanna, Vanuatu. Clearing out of Customs early in the morning, Eric was informed that we had to leave Fiji within the hour and that we were not to stop anywhere on the way out. Not stopping is standard protocol. Leaving in one hour is not. He then asked Eric when we expected to leave. Eric smiled, “Why, within the hour, of course.” No way! Family boats don’t spin on a dime, and most customs agents respect this, typically giving us 24 hours. It took the good part of the morning to prep Kandu before we could leave. Before sailing completely away from Fiji, we needed to stop over at Port Denarau Marina to pick-up a new outboard prop that died on us in Suva. Eric had ordered it the week earlier. Port Denarau Marina is a high-class modern vacation marina, intended especially for super yachts and the like. It even sports a Hard Rock Café. We were in and out within an hour, wishing we had had more time to visit. By 19h00, after a standard tropical sunset, we sailed through the last Fijian pass and into open-ocean, a three day passage.

Trent Rigney walking down the main dock to enter the classy Port Denarau, Viti Levu of Fiji.

6-16-2017 Friday 11:00 am – Leslie. Arrived Port Resolution, Tanna, Vanuatu (originally known as New Hebredes). Our original port of entry was supposed to be Port Vila on Efate, but the winds directed us more south, so we turned toward the first island in the archipelago, Tanna. Through our InReach satellite texting, we asked good friend Ron Bruchet in Victoria, Washington to email the immigration authorities our circumstances and to find out if we could clear on Tanna. Vanuatu customs indicated Port Resolution on the southeastern tip would be the best anchorage even though the customs office was located at Lenakel on the west coast of the island. Upon arrival, arrangements were made immediately for a customs officer to drive the 2 hours one way over rugged dirt roads to clear us in. Wow, what service!6-23-2017, Friday 2 am – Eric. After more customs and immigration business plus getting some laundry done, we left the very expensive, not-so-pleasant Vanuatu capital, Port Vila. We’re sailing from Port Vila, Efate to Ranon Bay, Ambrym, passing several islands in a narrow channel. We were passed by two inter island cargo/ferry boats, fore and aft. Winds light from south due to storm in New Zealand. Helping us sail a bit. Motor sailing too. Nicer ride than any other since French Polynesia.

Ambrym has 2 active volcanoes. They practice magic (black and white), Rom Dance and sand painting. Dr. Alan of the Seven Seas Sailing Association recommends we meet with William Adel to take us to the volcano. Don’t have nearly enough time to explore, as we must leave Vanuatu for Darwin by June 20^th to arrive before the ‘Sail Indonesia Rally,’ which starts July 29^th. All is well and working about Kandu.

6-23-2017 7h00 – Eric. Arrived Ranon Bay, Ambrym. Descended Kandu to find William Adel. Witnessed Rom Dancing in Fanla Village. No time for a 3-day round trip hike to see the active volcano. Fortunately, we had already witnessed a live volcano on Tanna. Did exchange some new T-shirts and a long solid rope for a carved statue in volcanic rock and local produce.

6-24-2017 6h00 – Eric. Departed Ranon, Ambrym for Wali, Pentecost. Morning sail. Arrived 8h30 to see extraordinary10h00 presentation of Land Diving by village boys and men. 16h00 Kava Happy Hour to meet Chief of Wali village. Fantastic!

6-25-2017 6h00 – Eric. Left Wali, Pentecost for southern tip of Maewo, Asanvari Bay. Easy day sail. Beautiful and comfortable anchorage with a stunning waterfall to boot! How could cruising get any better?

6-26-2017 5h30 – Eric. Departed Asanvari, Maewo for Luganville, Espirito Santo. Anchored 16h00 in front of The Beachfront Resort in the second channel on the southeastern corner of Espirito Santo next to the main port, Luganville. We were told there had been some recent yacht theft, but decided to risk it in order to be close to the principal city of Luganville. We had many plans: diving the President USS Coolidge WWII wreck, touring WWII sites, swimming the Blue Hols, and of course, provisioning for our upcoming 20 day passage direct to Darwin.

Luganville’s Temporary hold for Japanese POWs during WWII.

7-1-2017 17h00 – Eric. Weighed anchor from Santo at 14h30. Fuel and water topped up (diesel, gas, propane). Last of provisions acquired.

Two locals helping us provision in Luganville.

Left a day later than planned to see East coast of Santo and to start in a slightly easier way (less windy). Still steady, wind and seas pushing us right along at 6 knots. Clear skies with occasional traveling rain cloud. Rocking a bit but not crazy seas, mostly steady. Estimated 16-20 days to Darwin, Australia. First waypoint is +1250 nautical miles away, lining us up for the Torres Strait. Weather forecast constant SE trade winds, 13-18 knots. Hope we can get away without running downwind much. All excited to get this crossing behind us. Boys helped a lot in getting the boat ready. Makes things easier. Poor sleep the night before leaving. It was a Saturday night and I feared reported thefts, so set-up the motion detector alarm, but it went off twice in the night. False alarms. No intruder was seen onboard. However, there was a cockroach intruder crawling on my naked legs during the night. It was annoying!

7-1-2017, Saturday, 11:30 pm – Leslie. Cleared out yesterday; we left Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu at 2:30 pm. Eric had hoped to depart in the morning, but as always, it took longer to get everything arranged from acquiring diesel, last minute provisioning in town, returning our day rental car, and the cleaning, wiping down, and deflating of the dinghy plus tying it down onto the port foredeck.Our tour of Vanuatu was Eric’s dream come true. Ever since he was a boy, he dreamed of seeing land diving off of log and branch scaffolding, which he had seen on TV. We were quite fortunate to have witnessed it actually. Our June travels brought us to Pentecost Island of Vanuatu on the last Saturday presentation of the year. Only the day before were we anchored at Ranon Bay on Ambrym, the “black magic” island, where our contact William Adel of Ranon Beach Bungalows informed us of the following day’s last diving-of-the-year event. We were completely unaware. What luck to have been in the right place at the right time! Ambrym to Wali Bay on Pentecost was only an hour and ½ sail. We’d sail early the next morning. But on Ambrym, before leaving for Pentecost, we hiked up the hillside for a tour of Fanla Village and a private presentation by men of their sacred Rom pig dance, a bamboo flute performance, and their special sand painting.

We felt honored and privileged to have heard and seen this special ritual that even their own women are not allowed to witness. Afterward, the village carvers displayed their beautiful wares and we bought 2 carved bamboo flutes and a gorgeous wood statuette depicting their Rom mask.

I musn’t neglect to mention that the first stop on our Vanuatu tour began on Tanna, the most southern island in the chain. We enjoyed the beautiful people of Ireupuow Village situated on the east side of the large bay called Port Resolution. Firstly, we were beautifully welcomed by Stanley, the Port Resolution Yacht Club custodian. He hooked us up with the customs officials right away. He helped us exchange money across the island in Lanakel, and made reservations for us to visit volcano Mount Yasur. While walking through their simple village, we passed out toys to the children, explored the village of thatch roof, one bedroom huts/houses, provided skin medicines to an older gentleman with a nasty knife injury, traded rice, corned beef and electrical re-charging of a phone and video camera for limes and bananas with a man in a canoe,BnT played frisbee and volley ball with the local kids (two gifts to them were frisbees), we ate a nice local lunch at Leah’s Restaurant (incidentally Leah spoke no English, only French),

Leslie Rigney and Leah from Leah’s Restaurant, Port Resolution, Tanna Island, Vanuatu.

and attended a quarterly talent show school fundraiser of local song and dance accompanied by modern mixers, microphone and speakers à la karaoke. Witnessing the fun spirit of the locals in song and dance was a highlight of activities on Tanna. To top off our quick stay on Tanna, we traveled 4-wheel drive over craggy dirt roads to experience the remarkable active volcano, Mount Yasur. It exploded a minimum of every 2 minutes. We arrived onsite at twilight, and when night set-in, the exploding lava light show was spellbinding, visually hitting our eyes the same time as the shock and sound waves hit our bodies and ears, we were that close. You could actually see the shock waves in the mist.

Easter Island, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Darwin, Eric's Posts, Experiential, Itinerary, Mindset

Sailing West by Eric Rigney

July 1, 2017 admin 8 Comments

We Kandu with the Rigneyskandu team: Eric Rigney, Captain, Leslie Rigney, Co-Captain, Bryce & Trent Rigney, Crew!

The trip has changed dramatically since leaving Bora-Bora. The larger boat jobs completed in February and March, planned and parts ordered months prior, are behind me. No longer do I shoulder an over-shadowing burden of endless preparatory tasks. So many were completed: haul-out and new bottom paint, re-plumbed some items in the head and galley, revamped electrical system (batteries, solar, monitoring), new standing rigging (hardware, cables and fittings to support the sails and mast), installed an AIS transponder, set up our new dinghy, and more. Kandu feels whole, ready for frequent ocean passages, ready for whatever awaits us.

My captaining tools have improved: additional electronic navigation, weather forecasting, and communication with ports. As a result, after days out at sea, we successfully sailed into two foreign ports at night using tools recommended by a more experienced cruising sailor. My skills have improved as well. The boys are stepping up, particularly Bryce. Getting from point A-to-B, and repairing/maintaining Kandu come easier. Stress levels don’t immediately jump to DEFCON 5 when problems arise: automatic bilge pump counter shows 263 cycles of pumping water out of the boat in 8 hours, starboard side window falls off dodger a second time and shatters, wind vane steering line frays and locks-up the helm toward an accidental jibe in 25 mph winds and 8-foot seas, Custom officers can’t reach us over VHF radio, after changing the oil and replacing all its fuel filters (5) the 44hp diesel engine dies and won’t start, modem fails thus preventing us from emailing via HF and SSB radio. It turns out that stressing over a problem doesn’t resolve it faster. It just ages me. I do the best I can with what I have, “sail the wind I have,” I like to say. With support and assistance from family and friends, I resolve problems and order parts. Our pace, frequent crossings and shorter stays, is possible because our boat is working and with the help of my “team,” problems that arise are typically solved within the available timeframes.

We are seeing places in concentrated fashion, diving in deeply and getting out quickly. We’re seeing cultures new to me and more traditional than French Polynesia. Images from childhood wildlife and adventure television programs come to life, people and culture made real and tangible. This phase of our travel is very rewarding. It’s the trip I envisioned years prior. The two-year stay in French Polynesia was not planned, but proved helpful in terms of ‘finishing’ Kandu and making the boys bilingual. Better still, we deepened existing friendships and established new ones. We also delved deeply into the reviving Marquesan culture. Taking it slow has its rewards. But so does a faster pace. This quickened phase is driving our small family even closer together. We do most everything together, but make efforts to provide the boys “alone” activities ashore.

Our itinerary from this standpoint is:

Leave Vanuatu this Saturday for Darwin, sailing 20 days through the Torres Straight.
Join the Sail Indonesia Rally and sail through Indonesia over 2.5 months, stopping at 10-12 locations.
From there, sail to Singapore, along Malaysia, to Thailand.
After Christmas, sail to Sri Lanka and the Maldives before arriving at the Red Sea in late February.
From March-September 2018, sail the Med.
Make our way to northern South America and Southern Caribbean, and through the Panama Canal.
Then home by either coming up the Central American and Mexican coasts, or sailing to Hawaii and then over to North America, arriving in CA the summer of 2019.

When other sailors remark that our pace is too fast, I smile and reply, “Well, then maybe we should just go home and not bother sailing around the world.” It’s not perfect, not even close. But as another sailor noted, “You can’t kiss all the girls.” And with that, I’m happy with what we’ve done, and with what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. Sure, at this speed, we are not able to experience all that we would want. Still I would argue that the bits and pieces we are able to see provide a greater appreciation for the global vastness of culture and natural wonder that exists on our amazing planet, an experience more satisfying than the inspirational one I received watching it as a child at home on TV. Whether we sail one year eastward back across the Pacific or two years westward around the world, we wind up home either way. So why not sail west and kiss a few more girls? Sounds good to me.

by Eric Rigney

Easter Island, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Darwin, Eric's Posts, Experiential, Itinerary, Leslie's Posts, Log Notes

Daily Log: Samoa to Fiji, May 2017

July 1, 2017 admin

Kandu on the ocean blue, healed over +10 degrees.

Friday, May 26, 2017, 7:00 pm

Left Apia Marina, Samoa at 6:30 am. We were supposed to leave at 22h00 the night before but we were too tired. Motored to west point of Upolu, wind picked-up. SE 20 knot winds. Shut off engine at 12-noon. Starboard dodger window popped out again, but this time it shattered. Installed wooden blank board in its place to keep out the weather until we get replacement in Fiji. Sailing well. Reduced main and genoa, but maintained full staysail. Eric

Saturday, May 27, 2017, 2:00 pm

Winds calming, coming more easterly. Boat slowing from 6.2 knots to 5.2 knots. Eric.

Saturday, May 27, 2017, 11:45 pm

Leaving Apia harbor, Samoa was a piece of cake. We had flat waters and no wind for quite awhile, motoring until Upolu Island’s height decreased, then the wind and swell picked-up. Making our way through the island passage, then south of Savai’i, the brunt of the wind and swell hit us. Nausea arrested everyone. Trent and Eric purged several times while Bryce and I held the vomit at bay. None of us ate much. During the night, the wind died down, which was an enormous relief. The boat stopped healing over and calmed from ‘bucking bronco’ to a gentle sway. We added more sail pulling out the genoa immediately increasing our speed. We flew the rest of the day into the night. Our upset stomachs enjoyed vegetable soup and spam. Eric even got some paperwork done. I binged instead on our Outlander video series, season 2. Gee that was great fun! Take me away, to some higher place…..Leslie

Above Video: Air Guitar by Bryce Rigney

Memorial Day, May 29, 2017, 1:00 am

Bryce had taken an extra long nap starting around 4:30 pm, so when he took the first watch, he started counting at 8:00 pm and didn’t wake me until 12 midnight, stating that he still wasn’t tired. Then he stayed and chatted with me for another ½ hour explaining he had been editing some of the pictures I had loaded on his ipad from my computer – ones I thought he might like to post on Facebook or Instagram. He had been very pleased by my choices. He also wanted to share with me his writings about surfing in Raiatea. He had just finished his long recount of his surf camping and read to me the conclusion. He misses his buddies and easy surf life. What I miss is the steadiness of the boat and the familiarity of the surroundings, not to mention the lovely people we befriended, with whom we spent quality time.

We are finally officially experiencing the trade winds – real trade wind weather – where the sailing is comfortable. Sigh of relief! The seas are gentle and the boat is sailing on a beam reach. Today was sunny and trouble-free. If it continues like this, I’ll have to really cook, as we’ll get hungry. I have plenty of fresh vegetables. I just need inspiration and a calm stomach. 2.5 days until we reach Suva, Fiji. Leslie

Tuesday, May 30th, 1:30 am

Crossed the International dateline, longitude 180 degrees. Eric

Above Video: Crossing the International Dateline

Wednesday, June 1, 2017, 8:00 am

Arrived Suva, Fiji in the dark, again. Thanks to the NavX iPhone application from Navionics, we can see quite clearly the hazards. However, waking up this morning, we found ourselves anchored 100 yards away from an 120 foot overturned Chinese industrial fishing boat that we didn’t exactly note during the night. We had seen a pole sticking up marking a hazard….but that didn’t quite explain what was really there in the dark water. Confirmed Eric’s general rule not to enter a foreign port in the dark. Leslie

Note the wreck on the right. Arriving at high tide, we didn’t see it.

Educational, Itinerary, Marquesas

Itinerary Update: 2015.07.06

July 7, 2015 admin 3 Comments

Left Isla Isabela, Galapagos June 2. Arrived Nuku Hiva, Marquesas June 23. The sailing was not comfortable, but was quick. No major incidents. Posts to come. Plan to sail the Marquesas awhile, maybe place Bryce and Trent in school here.

Baja California & Mexico, Eric's Posts, Galapagos, Itinerary, Mindset

Remiss

June 2, 2015 admin 7 Comments

GAL Thunderhead — Thunderheads surround and engulf Kandu on way to Galapagos

Since arriving in La Cruz, Bandaras Bay, the push for me has been to get Kandu going and to keep her so. Several unexpected problems of significant proportion required my undivided attention and complete effort: physically, mentally, and emotionally. Delays were compounded by the pressures of the upcoming hurricane season, the French Polynesian visa requirement that we arrive in June, and the disappointment of having to cross so many desirous locations off our list. These demands left little time for visiting Mexico or writing. I went to bed exhausted around 8pm and woke around 5am. The pressure was non-stop. We knew that once we left Mexico, any chance of getting parts would be very difficult, time constraining, and costly. It felt like “now or never.”

Eric on evening watch off Mexican coast aboard Kandu

At one point, it looked like the lack of supportive wind would force us to cross Galapagos off our itinerary, a magical place I really didn’t want to miss. Realizing that the wind would not be dangerous, but variable, light, and rain-riddened, we made the decision to suck it up, spend the fuel, and go for it.

Red marks on RADAR heavy rain and Kandu in the midst.

The sail to the Galapagos was uncomfortable and discouraging. Sailing in confused seas (again), motor sailing often, having to dodge thunderstorms and squalls day and night, all as we passed under the latitude of the sun and its intense tropical heat (sea temp 89^oF), against the southeast trades and current, placed in jeopardy the whole idea of sailing around the world. Rain forced us to close all hatches and portlights, cutting off ventilation. Were it not for the portable 12-volt fans throughout the boat, we would have drowned in our own sweat. I often sleep in the cockpit so Bryce and Trent have easy access to me should they have any question. The last 4 days were the worst, as we tacked back and forth against ever-changing winds, through wet thunderheads, rocking in all directions, while discovering that our alternator charging system (the engine powers the alternator that makes electricity to charge the ship’s batteries) had failed for some unknown reason.

Land Ho! After 17 days, Isla Isabela — Land Ho! After 17 days, rain clouds shroud Isla Isabela at sunrise just below the equator.

Arriving in Puerto Villamil at the southern tip of Isla Isabela, the largest of the Galapagos islands, 17 days after leaving Mexico, we focus on meeting the complex entry requirements. Were it not for the help of our agent, JC DeSoto, we’d not have done so well. Entry permitted, and although many more standard issues beckon, I apply intense focus on resolving the alternator problem. It takes 8 days, more than half of our intended stay. In between the other boat maintenance requirement and preparing for the next, and longest crossing, I visit Galapagos with the family, taking several half-day excursions, land and sea.

Time constraints of the Galapagos and of French Polynesia require we leave now. Instead of sailing to Gambier, a less comfortable sail, we’ve opted for sailing directly to the Marquesas, a more favorable direction with regard to wind and sea. I can’t very much afford another uncomfortable crossing if I want to keep morale up for a 25-day crossing. In Gambier, we’d have to leave after a week or two. In the Marquesas, we can stay a month or longer, providing the rest and stability we all crave. Off to the Marquesas we go.

Marina Iguana Yoga — Marina Iguana yoga position

The intensity of effort to prepare Kandu for the Galapagos and beyond, combined with the power issue that developed along the way, prevented me from blogging. Although I have many stories to share, I’m going to have to wait until we settle into the Marquesas before I can publish. Appreciating that such breaks from regular posting are the death of a blog-site, I hope you’ll bear with us and reap the reward once we are able to share once again on a more regular basis. In the meantime, for those on Facebook and/or Twitter, we have been posting regularly to these sites via our satellite texting device, Delorme inReach SE, which provides not only the text, but a link back to our current position. The same device provides the tracking and map location of Kandu, a link to which is provided on this site’s front page. So if you’re needing your RigneyKandu fix, look for us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rigneyskandu or me up on Facebook (Eric Rigney) or on Twitter@RigneysKandu until we can get back to delivering more in-depth writing.

Thanks for sticking with us!!!

Eric Rigney

Baja California & Mexico, Eric's Posts, Experiential, Itinerary, Prepping Kandu

Ventura to Mexico Recap

May 7, 2015 admin 5 Comments

This is a recap I submitted to the Ventura Yacht Club’s, that they published in their newsletter, “The Forecast,” in its “Members on the Move” section. Leslie thought I should post it for all to read:

The Rigneys aboard their Tanaya 42, Kandu, made a soft start of their planned circumnavigation, taking full advantage of reciprocity to finish last minute items aboard Kandu. They wonder if YELP should include reviews on the various yacht club showering facilities? The clubs have been very accommodating, some more regulated than others. Clubs visited in order of appearance: Del Rey, California, Alamitos Bay, Dana Point, Oceanside (Eric gave OYC his VYC presentation), Southwestern, San Diego, Silver Gate, Chula Vista, Coronado Cays, Navy (They honored reciprocity as well. The Rigneys just needed a sponsor, which the Navy club provided), back to Silver Gate and Southwestern. The new showering facilities at Silver Gate take first prize.

Ensenada brought the first international leg, and the boys responded well. VYC members Bill Kohut and Joe Houska joined them for the border crossing. Eleven-year-old Trent was and remains bent on learning Spanish. Bryce was mostly interested in skateboarding the streets and port of Ensenada, drinking Mexican Coke and drinking coconuts. Between Ventura and Puerto Vallarta, some problems arose aboard Kandu. Debris from a dissolved inspection plate gasket blocked their fuel supply. The control unit of their windvane malfunctioned. Hydraulic fluid leaked from the ram of their autopilot. And the inside rigging of their extendable spinnaker pole gave way. But nothing “mission critical” occurred that redundancy couldn’t circumvent. The first overnight sails with watch schedules went well. Thirteen-year-old Bryce has difficulty waking for the 10 p.m. to midnight watch, but is otherwise fine. The confused seas, remnants of Hurricane Pam, didn’t make for comfortable initial crossings. After two nights, Isla Cedros was their first landfall. Then a surf stop at Isla Natividad on their way to Turtle Bay. Passage to Bahia Maria meant another two night sailing in confused seas. Leslie questions going all the way to Easter Island, but will wait to see how the sail to the Galapagos goes this month. They missed the Grey Whales in Mag Bay by a week (darn wind generator controller and fuel blockage!). The four day passage to La Cruz, just outside Puerto Vallarta, provided two days of favorable seas and wind, which calmed to a day and half of low rpm motoring (tachometer quit, so they go by ear until Bill Kohut arrives with a new sender unit in a few days). Bill Kohut is flying to meet them in Puerto Vallarta, bringing many requested parts and supplies. Kandu is thoroughly shaken down and ready for her long upcoming passages: Galapagos, Easter Island (maybe), and French Polynesia. Don’t forget to follow them on the website and subscribe to their blog feed at RigneysKandu.com. It includes a map link that will track in real-time their passages.

Post script: Easter Island and Pitcairn are off the list for now, due to time constraints surrounding our visa with French Polynesia. Maybe we’ll visit them on our return, after transiting the Panama Canal. Today, April 30, after many false starts, we plan to leave the Puerto Vallarta area for the Galapagos. It will take 15 days or more, before we arrive in Isla Isabela.

Baja California & Mexico, Eric's Posts, Itinerary

Itinerary Update: 2015.4.10

April 11, 2015 admin 9 Comments

Two days ago, we arrived in La Cruz, Mexico, not far from Puerto Vallarta. At first we anchored, but the next day, we rented a slip to make Internet easier. We have a lot of work to do that requires emailing and Internet research. Turning around Cabo San Lucas, we definitively hit a more tropical clime, T-shirts and shorts on watch. Since Ensenada, we’ve had two 2-night passages and one 4-night passage, stopping at three cove/bays. Some issues were shaken out of Kandu and we’re addressing them as timely and cost-effectively as we can. The hottest issue for us now is a leaking hydraulic ram used by the autopilot to steer the boat. Although it was recently rebuilt by the manufacturer, we need to replace it, an expensive and arduous task. My uncle, Bill, is really helping tremendously in this effort, postponing his joining us until he has a replacement in hand. It’s proving difficult to find an appropriate replacement, the right size for the available space. Consequently we think we’ll be “stuck” in Mexico for a couple of weeks, before we can head off to the Galapagos.

Leslie as we come into Cedros Island after two nights at sea.

Baja California & Mexico, Experiential, Itinerary, Leslie's Posts

Traveling into Mexican Waters

March 28, 2015 admin 11 Comments

Kandu at Ensenada's Cruise Port Village with cruise ship dock before her. — Kandu at Ensenada’s Cruise Port Village with cruise ship dock before her.

Kandu moored at Ensenada's Cruise Port Village — Kandu moored at Ensenada’s Cruise Port Village

Kandu departed San Diego’s Southwestern Yacht Club Friday (3/20/2015) at 5:00 a.m. with Uncle Bill and Joe Houska aboard. We bid farewell to U.S. conveniences…most especially our car!

Silver Gate YC amenity, evening Jacuzzi in front of Kandu lit by her spreader lights.

Arrived safely without trouble at Ensenada’s Cruise Port Village, Mexico around 4:30 p.m. We’re enjoying the sites, the color schemes, and especially the food – taking advantage of the great currency exchange due to a strong dollar…about 14.5 pesos per dollar. Friday night after we arrived, we ate at a great fish restaurant off the main drag: Mariscos Bahia Ensenada. The staff was excellent and the ambiance spiced up by Mariachis.

Celebratory dinner of delicious Ensenada seafood

Several times we ate fish tacos at a small stand near the Mercado de la Nueva Viga, the local fish market. Bryce thought it was cool that as we approached the area, we were beckoned into a taco stand where everyone inside agreed that we would taste Ensenada’s best fish tacos there.

The tacos were most definitely tasty, yet just around the corner we discovered probably another 20 taco stands, likely equally as good, butted up against each other adjacent to the fish market. After lunch, we strolled along the fish and fishermen at the fish market. The large selection of fresh fish and seafood is astounding in Puerto Ensenada. Such an incredible display of fresh fish and seafood: all varieties & sizes of fish, clams, oysters, abalone, shrimp, lobsters, etc. We were passing one sectional of fish sporting an enormous fish head (the head of a 400-lbs black seabass). The fisherman beckoned me over to take a picture with him and the trophy head.

Catching a halibut, the sea bass took the prize and became the bigger prize!

His display of fish included large steaks of smoked marlin. When I inquired in broken Spanish how long a red-colored smoked steak might last, he offered us a taste (which was delicious) and explained that unrefrigerated it would last, no problem, 7 days. Refrigerated, it could last up to 2 months. I told him we would be back to purchase some before we left. I also priced out a large Halibut – $10 – the equivalent in Ventura would have been $25. Could be a delicious lunch during our first passage. (So far we haven’t caught any fish while trolling down the coast.)

Ensenada Church while strolling on errands.

When we returned to Kandu, Uncle Bill and Joe finished the repair on the anchor locker hinges, which had gotten broken in Long Beach. We are so grateful for their help. Bryce and Trent enjoyed the opportunity to surf with Joe. “Ensenada Beaches” (about a 25 minute walk south from Cruise Port Village) turns out to have had decent swell for surfing and they had an adventure trying to load three rather sizable surfboards into a small Toyota Celica Taxi for the return home! The two smaller boards fit inside while Bryce and Joe supported the longboard just outside the windows. Talk about learning how to solve problems! With the exception of the boys’ surf trek, we’ve been walking everywhere. While they were off enjoying the water, Eric and I took care of laundry and found an open Smart’n Final for fresh vegetable provisions in preparation for our departure down the coast of Baja after finalizing Mexican customs.

Trent and Joe leave the dock for inland adventures

While we’ve been here, Trent has taken upon himself the challenge of learning Spanish. He has been studying and trying to remember/make-sense-of general greetings and simple phrases. It’s exciting for me to observe his enthusiasm. He even downloaded a Spanish learning game app to quiz himself on words and phrases. Bryce wonders at the lack of solid rules. It seems to him that Mexican people have more freedoms to do what they want. I explained to him that people here are less litigious, maybe because they don’t have as much to lose, and/or because Mexican bureaucracy (bribery) causes complaints to take much longer…there is definitely a sense of living at your own risk, fewer safety nets…hence the reason why when skateboarding, the boys must still wear their helmets!!! haha

We planned only to stay in Ensenada through the weekend, but on Monday morning, with the anticipation of a strong Northwest wind, Eric checked the weather through the Chubasco radio net and the meteorologist strongly recommended that we wait two days until Wednesday morning to depart. The winds were expected to blow up to 30 knots.

High winds give Kandu's crew a couple extra days in Ensenada — High winds give Kandu’s crew a couple extra days in Ensenada

Put the lime in the coconut and eat it all up!

Considering it would be the boys’ first experience with sailing overnight and having night watches, we decided to wait out the heavy breeze for a more-gentle send-off. I imagine once we make French Polynesia after sailing 3 10-15 day passages, 30-knot winds will be acceptable, but today, it’s best to be conservative. In any case, the two extra days have allowed us more time to explore the area, to add a couple more convenience touches to the boat, ie: bungee straps to stabilize bathroom garbage cans, and to refill our water tanks with reverse osmosis (RO) water, using shore-power to run the motors.

It had been three months since Eric first ran the RO unit to convert seawater into fresh. Since then, Bryce has been actively rinsing the membranes with fresh water. Eric figured once he got the system working the first time, it would be ready to go on demand. Unfortunately, while teaching the boys how to work the system, the RO unit failed to work. After spending 2 stressful hours troubleshooting the problem, he discovered that the installed 15-amp circuit breaker for the booster pump (the 12-volt water pump that pulls seawater up to the high pressure RO pump for processing) was too small. Having been a professional technician, Eric is fond of stating that the difference between a user and a technician is that the tech read the manual. Thus, Eric calmly sat down to re-read the set-up installation instructions. He learned that the breaker amperage spec (20A) is rated higher for the system than the spec rating (15A) on the pump. Fortunately, he stocked a lot of spare parts, and was able to change it out that same day—problem solved!

From here, we are headed south toward Turtle Bay, but will stop-off for the boys to surf off Isla Natividad, weather permitting. One weather report forecasts a southern swell for Thursday, so we’ll see. Then we’re off to “Mag Bay” and Puerto Vallarta, before our first big crossing: Galapagos. Here at Cruise Port Village, in the port of Ensenada, is our last chance to benefit from WiFi and hot showers for quite some time…maybe not until Puerto Vallarta. It may also be our last marina slip for several years, meaning we’ll be anchored off shore, taking our dinghy in, with no power connection to shore power. We’re unplugging!

Leslie Rigney

The Rigneys' Great Adventure